Preparation of beer with reduced calories

ABSTRACT

A low dextrin and low carbohydrate beer having reduced calories is produced by fermenting wort with yeast in the absence of readily fermentable carbohydrates so that the yeast act on fermentable ingredients in the wort other than readily fermentable carbohydrates. After fermenting a major portion of fermentable ingredients, there is added to the resulting alcoholic wort a quantity of one or more readily fermentable sugars and fermentation is continued until the real degree of fermentation is at least 80%. By this process a low calorie beer can be prepared without the use of a carbohydrate splitting enzyme such as amyloglucosidase.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.740,437 filed Nov. 10, 1976, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND

In recent years considerable attention has been given to the preparationof alcoholic beer having a reduced calorie content as compared toregular commercial beers. One method of preparing such a beer isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,534 wherein a carbohydrate splittingenzyme, amyloglucosidase, is used in various stages of the process. Theprocess is said to result in a beer having substantially no dextrins orless than a major part of dextrins normally present in commercial beer.It is also alleged that such a beer containing little or no dextrins hasa significantly lower caloric content than beers heretofore made withthe same alcoholic content. A significant disadvantage of this beer,however, resides in the fact that the added enzymes are not inactivatedduring the usual pasteurization of the beer and continue to react in thebottle. Enzyme activity may result in a continual, undesirable flavorchange in the product after it is packaged and in the hands of theconsumer.

Another marked disadvantage of beer produced with amyloglucosidaseenzymes is the processing problem encountered when such a beer isinadvertently mixed with normally produced beer. When this occurs, thenormally produced beer changes rapidly in flavor and continues to do so,even after packaging and pasteurization.

OBJECTS

One of the objects of the present invention is to produce a beer whichcontains greatly reduced amounts of dextrin and carbohydrate compared toregular commercial beers.

Another object of the invention is to produce a beer containingapproximately one-third to one-half fewer calories than commoncommercial beers.

Still a further object of the invention is to produce a beer which has asignificant lower content of dextrins and other calorie-providingsubstances in its real extract in proportion to its alcohol content.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedprocess for producing a beer containing a low level of carbohydratematerials and a lower calorie content than beers heretofore made withthe same alcohol content.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved processfor producing a low calorie alcoholic beer using only natural substancesas brewing ingredients and which does not require the unnatural additionof enzymes such as amyloglucosidase to produce the desired results.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A low dextrin and low carbohydrate beer with reduced calories isprepared by fermenting an all grain malt wort or a wort obtained from amixture of grain malt and a minor proportion by weight non-malt grainwith brewer's yeast without any other substances fermentable by brewer'syeast such as fermentable sugars, continuing the fermentation for aperiod of time so that the brewer's yeast acts on the ingredients ofsaid wort rather than on readily fermentable sugars which wouldotherwise be selectively fermented rather than the ingredients of saidwort, and, after a major proportion of the fermentable ingredients insaid wort have been fermented, adding to the resultant fermenting wort aquantity of one or more sugars readily fermentable by brewer's yeast,and completing the fermentation until the real degree of fermentation isat least 80%. By this process a reduced calorie beer, e.g., a beer withapproximately ninety-six calories per twelve fluid ounces an an alcoholcontent of approximately 3.2% by weight or a beer with approximatelyseventy calories per twelve fluid ounces and an alcohol content ofapproximately 2.3% by weight can be prepared and no carbohydratesplitting enzyme such as amyloglucosidase is required.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A beer with ninety-six calories or less per twelve fluid ounces can onlybe produced if the original gravity of this beer does not exceed about7.6-7.7° P. (P=Plato). With normal brewing technology and the use ofcommon brewer's yeast, the highest possible real degree of fermentationis about 74%. This degree of fermentation, however, is not sufficient toproduce 3.2% alcohol by weight from a wort with an original gravity of7.6 to 7.7° P. The process provided in accordance with the presentinvention results in a real degree of fermentation of 80% or morewithout the addition of amyloglucosidase-containing preparations.Moreover, as previously indicated, by carrying out the fermentationinitially for a predetermined period of time using an all-grain maltwort such as a wort from malted barley or a wort obtained from a mixtureof grain malt and not more than 30% by weight non-malt grain, thebrewer's yeast acts on the all-grain malt wort or a wort from a mixtureof grain malt and non-malt grain, thereby making it possible to producea significant alcoholic content from these ingredients. After this,readily fermentable sugars such as dextrose (also known as glucose),fructose, sucrose, or mixtures of these sugars, are added and thefermentation continued to completion. Basically the production of lowcarbohydrate and lower calorie beer in accordance with the invention iscarried out by subjecting the more complex carbohydrates of the wort tothe yeast in the absence of the more readily fermentable lower sugars.This treatment causes the yeast to ferment out some of the less easilyfermentable carbohydrates which it would not otherwise do if the lowerreadily fermentable sugars were present.

The invention is illustrated but not limited by the following examplesin which proportions are by weight unless otherwise indicated.

EXAMPLE 1

A mixture of barley malt and water is mashed in at 113° F. and thetemperature raised to 145° F. and held at that point for 45 minutes. Themash temperature is then raised to 168° F. in 45 minutes and held therefor 5 minutes. The mash in then filtered and the residual extract iswashed out of the grains with water at 168° F. The filtrate and thewashing solution is collected in the brew kettle and boiled in the usualmanner until the wort is 7.6-7.7° P. Hops are added during the boiling.The wort is cooled to 52° F., saturated with air and mixed with one andone-half pounds of yeast per barrel of wort. The wort is allowed toferment for three days during which the temperature rises to 57° F. andis kept at that level.

On the fourth day, a dextrose solution of 7.6-7.7° P. is prepared usingdry dextrose, boiled and cooled to 57° F., aerated and added to thefermenting, all-malt wort. Equal volumes of fermenting wort and dextrosesolution are used so that the fermenting materials consist of 50-50mixture by volume of malt extract and dextrose solution. The combinedsolutions are kept in the fermenter for another four to five days untilthe fermentation is complete. The fermented beer now contains about 3.2%alcohol by weight and is processed in the usual manner.

EXAMPLE II

The procedure is the same as in Example I except that the barley maltand the dextrose are mixed with water in such a ratio that the resultingconcentration is 5.5-5.6° P. The fermented beer now containsapproximately seventy calories per twelve fluid ounces and approximately2.3% alcohol by weight.

EXAMPLE III

A mixture of 16,700 lbs. of barley malt in 170 barrels (31 gallons perbarrel) of water is mashed in at 147° F. and held for 45 minutes. Themash temperature is then raised to 168° F. in 45 minutes and held atthat temperature for 5 minutes. The mash is then filtered in a mashfilter and the residual extract is washed out of the grain with 260barrels of water at 168° F. The filtrate and the washing solution arecombined and boiled for an appropriate period in the brew kettle untilthe wort is 12.1-12.3° P. Hops (208 lbs.) are added during the boil ofthe wort. The wort is then cooled to 52° F., saturated with air andmixed with yeast at a rate of 2.5 lbs. of yeast per barrel of wort. Theoriginal gravity of the wort is 12° P. The wort is allowed to fermentfor four days; the temperature rises to 57° F. and is kept at thatlevel.

On the fifth day of the wort fermentation, a solution containing 16,700lbs. of dry dextrose in 405 barrels of water (approximately 16% byweight dextrose) is prepared in a brew kettle. This solution issterilized by boiling for 30 minutes, is then cooled to 57° F.,saturated with air and pumped into the fermenting, all-malt wort at aratio of 465 barrels of said dextrose solution to 350 barrels of saidmalt wort. The combined solution from the malt brew and the dextrosesolution is kept in the fermenter for another five to seven days untilthe apparent extract Plato reading drops below 0.2. The fermented beeris then cooled to about 32° F. and is transferred into the storagecellar where the beer is processed in the usual manner. Beforepackaging, the beer is adjusted with water to an original gravity of 7.6to 7.7° P. The finished product contains approximately 3.2% alcohol byweight.

EXAMPLE IV

The procedure is the same as in Example III except that the beer isadjusted before packaging to an original gravity of 5.5-5.6° P. Thefinished product now contains approximately seventy calories per twelvefluid ounces and an alcohol content of approximately 2.3% by weight.

EXAMPLE V

The procedure is the same as in Examples I, II, III, or IV except thatas much as 30% of the malt used is substituted by an adjunct such ascorn grits, rice, unmalted barley, or mixtures of one or more of saidingredients.

EXAMPLE VI

The procedure is the same as in Examples I, II, III, IV and V exceptthat liquid dextrose is used instead of dry dextrose. The liquiddextrose is diluted to the appropriate degree with water and handled asdescribed in the previous examples.

EXAMPLE VII

The procedure is the same as in Examples I, II, III, IV and V exceptthat the dextrose solution is added any time after the second day of theall-grain wort fermentation.

EXAMPLE VIII

The procedure is the same as in Examples I, II, III, IV and V exceptthat the ratio of extract originating from the malt grain brews and thedextrose solution varies from 30% malt-grain extract and 70% dextrosesolution to 60% malt-grain extract and 40% dextrose solution.

EXAMPLE IX

The procedure is the same as in Examples I through VIII except that thedextrose is substituted with another sugar that is readly fermentable bybrewer's yeast, for example, fructose, sucrose or mixtures of thesesugars.

It will be apparent from the foregoing examples that the initial wort isobtained from a mash made from a malted grain, preferably barley malt ora mixture of a malted grain and a minor proportion of other grainscommonly used in the brewing industry such as, for example, corn, rice,unmalted barley, or mixtures of one or more of said ingredients. Hopsare added to the extract or wort in selected amounts to alter the tastecharacteristics.

The wort is fermented without adding any readily fermentable substancessuch as dextrose, fructose, sucrose or other simple sugars, until amajor proportion of the fermentable ingredients have been fermented,i.e., usually for at least twenty four hours, preferably three to fourdays or, in some cases, up to seven days or longer, then the readilyfermentible simple sugars are added and the fermentation is completed.In this way, it is possible to prepare a beer with a real degree offermentation of at least 80% using normal brewer's yeast without theaddition of enzymes such as amyloglucosidase. Thus, the process involvesonly the use of natural ingredients.

By practice of the invention a flavorful reduced calorie beer can beobtained, e.g., a beer with approximately ninety-six calories for twelvefluid ounces and an alcoholic content of approximately 3.2% by weight ora beer with approximately seventy calories per twelve fluid ounces andan alcohol content of approximately 2.3% by weight. This beer can beprocessed in the same manner as regular beer including one or more stepssuch as carbonation, addition of chillproofing materials andpasteurization. It can also be mixed with regular beer without causingundesirable flavor changes such as those that occur when a beer producedwith amyloglucosidase enzymes is mixed with normally produced beer.

As shown by the examples, the relative proportions of malt-grain andreadily fermentable sugars are subject to variation. In general, it ispreferable to mix approximately equal volumes of the malt grain wort anda fermentable sugar aqueous solution of substantially equal Plato valuesbut this can vary within ranges of, for example, 30% malt grain extractand 70% sugar solution to 60% malt grain extract and 40% sugar solution.

It will be understood that dextrose (glucose) fructose and/or sucroseare preferably employed because they are readily fermentable by commonbrewer's yeast and also are commercially available. Other such readilyfermentable sugars might be used but are not practical from an economicstandpoint. Various other modifications can be made without departingfrom the invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:
 1. A process of preparing alow dextrin and low carbohydrate beer with reduced calories whichconsists essentially of fermenting an all-grain malt wort or a wortobtained from a mixture of grain malt and not more than about 30% byweight non-malt grain with brewer's yeast, continuing the fermentationfor a period of time until a major proportion of the fermentableingredients in said wort have been fermented, then adding to theresultant alcoholic wort a quantity of sugar solution containing one ormore sugars readily fermentable by brewer's yeast in an amount so thatthe sugar solution has a Plato value substantially equal to the Platovalue of said wort prior to fermentation, the volume ratio of wortderived from the malt grain or mixtures of malt grain and non-malt grainand the sugar solution being within the range of from 30% malt grainwort and 70% sugar solution to 60% malt grain wort and 40% sugarsolution and completing the fermentation until a real degree offermentation of at least 80% using common brewer's yeast is obtainedthus resulting in a product which contains not more than about 96calories per twelve fluid ounces and not more than about 3.2% alcohol byweight.
 2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fermenting wortin the first stage of said process is obtained entirely from a grainmalt.
 3. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fermenting wort inthe first stage of said process is obtained entirely from barley malt.4. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fermentable sugar ispowdered dextrose or an aqueous solution of dextrose.
 5. A process asclaimed in claim 1 in which the fermenting wort in the first stage offermentation is obtained from a mixture of grain malt and a minorproportion of a non-malted grain.
 6. A process as claimed in claim 5 inwhich the non-malted grain is selected from the group consisting of corngrits, rice and unmalted barley.
 7. A process as claimed in claim 1 inwhich said readily fermentable sugars are dextrose, fructose andsucrose.
 8. A process as claimed in claim 1 in which the productcontains about 96 calories per twelve fluid ounces and about 3.2%alcohol by weight.
 9. A process as claimed in claim 1 in which theproduct contains about 70 calories per twelve fluid ounces and about2.3% alcohol by weight.